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Police: Clearwater woman gave birth moments after smoking crack

 
Katrina Kegelman, 24, faces a charge of child neglect after police said she gave birth after smoking crack. [Pinellas County Jail]
Katrina Kegelman, 24, faces a charge of child neglect after police said she gave birth after smoking crack. [Pinellas County Jail]
Published April 6, 2017

CLEARWATER — A 24-year-old woman was arrested after police said she had a baby boy moments after smoking crack cocaine, then hid him in the back yard.

Katrina Kegelman, of Clearwater, gave birth Sunday night on the back patio of a home, according to her arrest report. Kegelman, who police said used crack cocaine and other substances while pregnant, hid the baby in the back yard.

When a friend noticed blood on her pants and asked where the baby was, Kegelman asked her not to call 911.

Clearwater firefighters responded to the house and asked Kegelman several times where the baby was, the arrest report says. She eventually pointed toward the back yard. The baby survived and was taken to Morton Plant Hospital, said Clearwater police spokesman Rob Shaw.

Kegelman was also taken to Morton Plant, where she told police she knew she had given birth but lied about the baby for fear she would be arrested for "having smoked crack moments before giving birth," according to the report.

Kegelman faces a child neglect charge. She was booked into the Pinellas County Jail Wednesday evening and later released after meeting $5,000 bail.